


The Last Kurta

by MysticLights



Category: Hunter X Hunter, RWBY
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7055287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticLights/pseuds/MysticLights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Leorio and Kurapika find themselves backed into a corner by white masked creatures they've never seen before on the dark continent, the sibling duo, Ruby and Yang, come in at the right moment to save the day. However, when one of these sisters eyes turn red upon sustaining considerable damage, how will Kurapika react to the possibility of another Kurta?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_ This is the end. _ The black-grey walls rocks crumbled off, crashing like clasps of thunder to the shaking ground. A tall, dark haired man almost carried a shorter blonde, attempting to run further into the inky darkness of the cavern ahead. The pair had long been separated from their travelling party, seeking refuge in a mostly dead forest from a pack of black creatures. The creatures had white masks decorated in intricate patterns of white, their bodies a caricature of woodland beasts

“We’re not far now, Kurapika. Hey! Stay with me here!”

_ I’m sorry. _ Kurapika was starting to slip in and out of consciousness now. “Leave me.” He whispered.

“Shut up, you idiot.”

A boulder crashed down in front of the two, blocking off the left pathway causing the taller man to stutter to a stop before crashing into it.

“Leorio, I’m slowing you down. Just leave me.”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m not leaving you behind damn it.” Leorio gave up attempting to support the blonde and decided to lift him off the floor. Kurapika gasped at the sudden movement, but otherwise made no response.

“What the hell are those things?”

Kurapika hissed, ignoring the man. He rolled his ankle and winced. “Holy chain.” His thumb chain snaked forward and wrapped around his ankle, quickly healing the sprain.

“Can’t you use that to take care of that?” Leorio was starting to breathe heavily from the exertion, but he gestured with his chin to the gaping wound in the blonde’s side.

“Only if my eyes go red.” Kurapika spat, cursing his own limited abilities in his current state.

Suddenly, Leorio cursed and set Kurapika down quickly, pulling out his switchblade. “Dead end. Get ready to fi-“

The wall to the right of the duo suddenly exploded as the white masked face of a giant bear-looking creature peered in. Red markings decorated the face, trailing spirals into glowing red eyes which narrowed directly on Kurapika, who was bracing himself for a fight with his bokken.

The creature roared loudly and snapped forward, lunging at Kurapika. Kurapika backed into the wall and yelled “Leorio!”

“Eh? Oh!” Leorio ducked down and wound up a full-force punch at the ground. As the creature lunged forward, Leorio threw his full weight into the fist which vanished in a green light and materialized above the creatures head. Leorio cried out in pain as his fist clipped the edge of the bone mask, catching the creature off guard and slamming its face into the floor. The beast had large white spines snaking down the ridge of its back.

Taking advantage of the opening, Kurapika flipped up, landing forward onto the back of the creature’s head. Quickly he plunged the blade of the bokken into the back of its skull. The creature screamed in pain and writhed, sending Kurapika flying into the back of the wall. Leorio yelled Kurapika’s name, but was drowned out by the clatter of stones as they rained down around him.

The creature flopped forward, seemingly dead. “They don’t have Nen,”Kurapika coughed, wincing as he attempted to sit up.  Leorio moved towards the injured blonde, but stopped as his eyes widen at the sight of the barrelling herd of black, white and red creatures.

“There are more coming.” The doctor cursed. “They seem to be coming straight for us. A minute tops if I’m reading the vibrations correctly.”

“Can we go back?” The blonde hissed, slowly lifting himself from the rubble.

“We have to try. We can’t fight that many in perfect health.” Leorio was over by the rubble now, pulling the blonde to his feet.

“Speak for yourself.” The blonde jutted out his chin.

Leorio rolled his eyes. “Can you run?” Before Kurapika could answer, Leorio swept an arm at the shorter man’s knees and lifted him quickly.  

Kurapika gasped, “Put me down.” He smacked the taller man’s shoulder.

“This is faster.” Leorio winked down at the fuming blonde in his arms. He would never admit it, but he adored that look of irritation within his soft grey eyes, the slight reddening of the cheeks, and the downturned pout Kurapika’s lips formed. A fleeting thought of kissing the blonde ran through his mind, before he could spot it. This  _ really _ wasn’t the time, he groaned at himself. “You can focus on healing yourself to fight.”

Kurapika crossed his arms and looked away. He hated when Leorio was right. He clicked his tongue and set to work on patching up the bleeding wound, muttering Kurta phrases of annoyance in the process. A glowing red bird with the same bone mask as the rest had managed to get the drop on the duo as they scavenged their way through the forest earlier, diving directly at Kurapika. He had just barely managed to move his head out of the beast’s maw, however it managed to seriously clip his side. It was impossible that something that fast did not possess some sort of Nen, Kurapika thought.

Just as he was making progress, Kurapika found himself jolted out of Leorio’s arms and rolling on the hard rocky, a loud scream echoing through the cave system.

“Leo-“ Kurapika started before choking on his words as the vision of an oversized black scorpion with a white carapace and intricate glowing red designs held his partner dangling several feet off the ground. The creature snarled and tossed Leorio like a doll into the other side of the cave.

Kurapika shakily lifted himself onto one knee and braced himself to jump into battle, his eyes starting to take on tinges of red. Suddenly the floor beneath his knee moved. New patterns of blood red lit into existence as the stinger from the scorpion prepared to smash downward at Kurapika.

Time seemed to slow to crawl. He saw the stinger ready to come down on his skull, but his movements weren’t fast enough. A glace was spared to the semi-conscious groaning heap of a doctor in the corner.  _ Leorio. Run. _ He winced, looking back at his impending death, and raised his bokken to block the blow, knowing it wouldn’t be enough.

“Hooo-ah!” An unfamiliar thundering war cry, accompanied the high pitch ring of shot gun blasts, drowned out the rational thought in Kurapika’s mind.

_ What the hell- _

Something wet dripping on his shoulder causing Kurapika to look up to the sight of a ragged stump where there should have been a stinger dripping black blood on him. Kurapika looked at Leorio making sure he was alright to find the suit clad man gaping open-mouthed across the cave, a little bit of a glazed look behind his eyes.

“Hey no fair!” A shrill voice Kurapika couldn’t see called from behind the initial scorpion.

“You gotta keep up and enter with a Yang!”  Kurapika’s attention snapped to his right where a tall female with long, voluminous blonde hair was laughing as she fired more shots into a scorpion beast he hadn’t noticed before. The girl had tall brown combat boots that squished into the beast skull, with uneven yellow socks poking out. Her hair was so long that Kurapika could only make out the pleats of her brown skirt from behind, and briefly wondered about the logistics of combat in a skirt.

There was a high pitched groan. “Yaaang.” The voice was much closer now, extending the “a” in sound in what Kurapika had to assume was the first woman’s name.

Yang's fists flashed, and Kurapika saw that her hands were enclosed in bright yellow gauntlets with black detailing. Each strike burst with flame, forcefully impacting her foes as if hit with a hammer. Kurapika started as she began striking the air, bolts of energy arcing through the air from her hands to detonate on the approaching monsters.

The creature started shifting beneath him, causing Kurapika to become very aware that he was still standing on an aggressive beast. He hopped of quickly and hissed as his injury was jostled. He dropped to a knee as he tried to recover.

The thump of a red mechanical bat dropping beside him caused Kurapika to gasp. “Hi! I’m Ruby!” A girl who looked total opposite to the blonde girl tapped him on the shoulder, and peered at him with large liquid silver eyes, head cocked to the left; she couldn’t be older than 14 years Kurapika determined. Her smile dropped as her eyes narrowed into the blood soaking through the side of Kurapika’s clothing. “Oh no! You’re hurt.” Her eyes drowned in concern as she looked back at his face. The top of her head leveled at about his shoulder, her black hair cut into a short, uneven style that framed her round face. “You stay back okay? I got this.” Her eyes hardened and her lips curved into a confident smile, before her eyes flickered to the scorpion behind him.

Kurapika was about to protest when he suddenly felt a huge spike of Nen from the girl. But, he realized with surprise, it wasn’t Nen it was something different.

Not even bothering to wait for his response, Ruby leapt forward with a remarkably loud war cry. Kurapika saw that she wielded a red club, and briefly wondered at its efficacy in combat. The girl caught his gaze and grinned, twisting the bat and extending it from her body. The dissonant sound of metal rubbing against metal rang out in the cavern as the tip flipped out at an angle, red and black plates unfolding and locking into place. A vicious looking silver blade slid out of the plates and made up the edge of a lethal, elaborate scythe. She spun it about her body with a strength that belied her size, the keen edge deftly slicing through the tough armor of the bear

Ruby swung her scythe to hook under the creature’s carapace with ease, her red cape waving behind her. Her short black dress was incredibly wide, and the several layers of red under the skirt ruffled in her movements. Her black boots, very similar to those the blonde girl was wearing, nearly blended into her black leggings.

Yang glanced over her shoulder to Kurapika, revealing glinting purple eyes and a large smile. “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands mister.” She winked, before turning her hands to land blasting blows against the scorpion at her feet. Kurapika glared slightly.

The battle cries rung out of Ruby as she peeled away layers of the scorpion’s carapace, revealing its vulnerable skin. Kurapika was mesmerized by the magic that seemed to surround both these girls, that wasn’t quite Nen, but wasn’t not Nen. It was like Nen in a different frequency or a different pitch. It seemed almost like these girls were taught a different branch of Nen.

Yang pummelled the first scorpion to death easily, gun blast echoing with nearly every punch, her kicks also delivering devastating blows. She looked over to find her next target, to be met with another three sets of glowing eyes.

“Oh man. Look Ruby. All these guys got the invite to my party. Here, have some punch!” Yang articulated in short bursts as she launched a vicious punch across the room at the scorpion who had initially picked up Leorio. However, before her punch connected, a loud blast echoed throughout the cavern wall.

Rocks were sent flying as a new hole was punched into the side of the cave system, catching Yang by surprise. A few small boulders nailed her from the side, and she slammed against the back wall, releasing loud grunts of pain. The deafening sound of the rythmic clattering of rocks cause all other sounds to disappeared.

“No!” Kurapika gasped as he started to move towards the pile of rocks that continued to come down, further burying the blonde.

“Don’t worry about her,” Ruby nearly sang, “it only makes her stronger.”

Before Kurapika could really process what that meant, the pile of rocks started to rattle, and intense power began radiating out of it. It was reminiscent of the lead-up to Uvogin’s Big Bang Impact. Suddenly, a fist burst out of the rubble, sending a rock flying at the scorpion across the cavern.

A furious scream pierced the air as a mass of rocks again went flying in all directions. Kurapika leapt forward, his eyes flicking back at the boulder that nearly caught him, as it broke apart on the wall behind him.

His eyes returned to the rubble pile to the fiercely glowing yellow figure of Yang. The powerful Nen -like magic radiated off of her, knocking the wind out of Kurapika’s lungs. He nearly looked away from the searing intensity when he caught something that made his blood run cold and his heart stop. The blonde haired woman was staring murderously across the room with blazing flames around her hair, and glowing scarlet eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

_ No. It can’t be. That’s not possible. Glowing red eyes. But I’m the last of the Kurta. I don’t even recognize her. She has to be younger than me. No. I would have to recognize her. She can’t be a- _

“Hey you! Duck!” His thoughts were interrupted by piercing voice of Ruby, bouncing beside him and swinging with full force. Kurapika dropped and rolled backwards, as the red scythe nearly detached his head from his body. It connected with the bear-like creature that was about to take a bite out of his shoulder, charging through the newly-formed hole in the wall. “Man they really don’t like you, huh? It’s like you’re full of hate or anger or something.”

Kurapika stiffened. “Is that what attracts these creatures?” He yelled.

“Well yeah. All Grimm are attractive to negative feelings. Everyone knows that.” The girl laughed, and spun around to land a kick on the bear.

Across the room, the war cries of the blonde female were ringing out loudly as each Grimm took a harsher and harsher beating. Kurapika turned to gawk at her, seeing only the blur of her flaming hair and flashes of her gauntlets. Her punishing blows were focused on the offending beast that was now screeching in its newly made hole in the wall. It was similar to the bear beast that attacked them earlier, but this one had far more spikes punching out of its spine.

“Kurapika?” There was a tug at his blazer. Kurapika looked to his side to see his was now situated next to Leorio, who was just now starting to stand from the pile of rubble. “Were her eyes-“

“I think so” Kurapika interrupted.”

“But I thought you were-“

“I thought so too.”

“Then who is-“

“I have no idea.”

“Will you let me finish a sentence!?” Leorio yelled a bit louder than he had intended. He was waving his arms above his head madly. That’s when Kurapika noticed the trails of blood alongside Leorio’s head.

Kurapika clicked his tongue and moved to stand. “I should go help them. Stay-” He stopped as his vision started blurring and world began to spin.

“Kurapika!” Leorio’s voice seemed distant. “Shit- You’re still bleeding.”

Kurapika bristled and fought even harder to stay on his feet. “I’m fi-“ And the world went black.

\---

Red. Everything is the red. The light, the patterns. The eyes. The eyes are red. Red blood drips, drips, drips. Scarlet eyes. “You’re not alone” a thin rasp sounds in the heavy air. Scarlet eyes. Girl. Yang? Another Kurta. Hurt. Leorio! Leorio’s hurt. I need to go help Leorio.

Kurapika’s thoughts start to fade to nothing as he feels the cold grasp of unconsciousness start to pull his body.

I need to check on Leorio. He thinks intensely, attempting to force his eyes open.

“But that’s tiny! How do you expect to get to the squishy bits with a weapon that size” The voice is shrill. It’s not the voice Kurapika is searching for.

“Can’t you switch it for something else?” This voice isn’t as high, but it’s still wrong. The first voice groans.

“I don’t usually fight… Grimm? You called them. We don’t have these... things where we come from.” The voice is frantic, and defensive, but it’s the voice stirs something in Kurapika. Leorio. Kurapika sighs in relief.

“Hey he’s waking up!” The first voice, Ruby his mind finally supplies, gets higher in excitement. Kurapika again tries to force his eyelids to open.

“Kurapika!” Leorio’s voice is incredibly close now. He feels the warmth of Leorio’s hand wrap around his own. “Take it slow. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

Kurapika groaned as he became aware of the pounding headache at the back of his skull. “Are you okay?” His voice is gruff.

Leorio made a sound of annoyance. “I’m fine you idiot. You’re the one that needs to be asked if they’re okay.”

He scrunched his nose. “I can’t very well ask myself if I’m okay.”

One of the female voices laughed. “Wow, at least he’s funny.”

Kurapika’s eyes started to feel less sticky, and he started to blink as the blurry outline of black hair and small glasses was framed against black. As his eyes began to focus, Kurapika was taken aback by the serious expression the Leorio was peering at him with. Not serious, concerned, his mind supplied. “Stop worrying, I’m going to be perfectly okay.”

Leorio looked away quickly and muttered something about ‘Nen healing’ and ‘smart ass.’ Kurapika rolled his eyes, pushing himself up into a seated position.

The cavern they had been backed into was now riddled with the dead magical beasts. There has to be at least a dozen. As his eyes moved to the giant hole that had been blasted open, Kurpaika breathing stopped.

“Since he’s awake now, we should keep moving. I don’t know why they stopped attacking, but there are more Grimm in this area.” Kurapika’s eyes snapped to the blonde hair that was just behind Leorio’s shoulder.

“Kurapika?” Leorio was looking at him again, his mouth turned into a frown and brows furrowed.

Kurapika continued to stare, lost in his own thoughts. Did he imagine it?

“Yang’s right! We should keep moving. What’s with him now?” The face of the black-haired girl appeared over Leorio’s other shoulder. She looked at Kurapika so intently that her eyes went cross eyed. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Leorio sighed, leaning back. “I think he feels like he has, Ruby.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in awe. “Are there ghosts where you come from?”

“No. I mean… Maybe. I don’t know; people believe what they want to believe.”

“Darn it! That would have been. So. Cool.” Ruby hopped a bit, balling her fist up in excitement. She hopped away from the pair and looked to be inspecting some of the beast bodies.

Yang was still smiling when she walked up to the cluster of people around Kurapika. “I’m going to scout to see if we can safely make our way through this lovely hole that Grimm made for us. I’ll be back in a flash. Kurapika continued to stare at the girl.

Leorio placed a hand on Kurapika’s shoulder. “Hey. The girls are right. We need to keep moving. We need to find the other group and hope they fared better than us.”

“But… You saw right?” His voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes-wide, darting longingly looking over Leorio’s shoulder at the direction Yang had walked out.

“I did.” Kurapika’s gazed snapped to Leorio at the hardness of his tone. Leorio’s mouth was set in a flat line, his brows knit together.  _ He’s probably still concerned about my injuries. _

The sudden rush of cold on his hand made Kurapika realize that Leorio had been holding his hand until a couple seconds ago. Kurapika buried away the confusing feeling of sadness that started to rise with in him. “I need to talk to her.”

Leorio made a noise that was oddly flat, but he nodded before speaking over his shoulder. “Ruby, your sister.” Kurapika jolted at the word sister. Does that mean this girl is a Kurta too? His focus was now firmly on Ruby now.

Ruby jumped at being addressed, but her smile was still shining brightly. “Oh don’t worry about her, she can take care of herself.” She put her hands out.

“No. When you guys were fighting and she was knocked down…“ Leorio smiled.

Ruby looked from Leorio to Kurapika, her eyes showed surprise as she met his intent stare. “Yeah, she does that.” She cautioned, giggling nervously before looking back at Leorio.

“You said being knocked around like that made her stronger.”

“Her eyes.” Kurapika whispered.

“Oh yeah, they go red. It’s real spooky. When she gets really angry her eyes go red and she just kablooey!” Ruby threw her hands in the air and rocked to her tip toes. Her voluminous dress bounced with her movements.

Kurapika’s eyes widened with the cheerful casualty at which Ruby spoke of the ability. “Do… do a lot of people do that here?”

She placed her hand on her face, and her eyes screwed up in thought. “Hmmm. Nope! Only Yang as far as I know. She’s amazing.” Kurapika deflated.

“So your eyes don’t-“

“Oh no, that’s Yang’s thing for sure.”

How could they be sisters if Ruby didn’t get red eyes on being angered? Kurapika couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. This couldn’t be Kurta blood if they were in fact sisters.

Before Kurapika was able to respond, Yang jumped back into the cavern. “Okay so I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

He was finally able to get a clear look at the girl now. Her face was also younger looking, but not nearly as young as Ruby. He would place Yang to be closer to his own age, if a bit younger. Her grin was lopsided, and her hand were placed on her hips. As opposed to her sister, who was seemingly covered neck to feet in fabric, Yang’s outfit of choice was far more revealing. She had a brown jacket that matched her skirt and buttoned just below her well-endowed chest; a yellow low-cut top peaked out from beneath it. Kurapika realized the girl wasn’t in fact wearing a skirt, but black shorts with a piece attachment that looked like the back of a skirt. She was also sporting an orange scarf.

Ruby’s hand shot up. “Oh oh! Bad news first.”

“Bad news is there are a big group of Grimm stirring not far to the south. They look to be heading our way.” The cocky grin didn’t leave her face. Kurapika was too stunned to speak, choosing instead to search Yang’s features for something he hoped he’d recognize. Some indication that she was a Kurta.

Leorio groaned. “What’s the good news?”

“Good news is that if we don’t hurry, we get to kick some more Grimm ass.” She pumped her fists, and cocked her gauntlet guns.

“That sounds like the bad news.” He muttered darkly.

“It is if you’re bad at fighting. Now let’s go before they trap us in here again.”


	3. Chapter 3

With the sun starting to hang low in the sky The team of four set forward, trying to dodge the Grimm that were moving their way towards the caverns. Yang took point, while Ruby stayed back, peppering Kurapika and Leorio with questions. 

Leorio was behaving darker than usual, his face twisted as though he was working on a very difficult math problem. He glanced at Kurapika often, and whenever Kurapika would catch him, he’d look away abruptly.

Yang called Ruby forward for a moment, asking her some questions about the geography of the area. The two girls seemed to make an intelligent partnership.

“I’m going to go talk to Yang.” Kurapika nudged Leorio. He jumped back, and Kurapika thought he saw a hint of blush on his face.

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.” Kurapika said too quickly. “I just. I mean I want to talk to her on my own. If you could talk with Ruby…” He trailed off.

Leorio nodded, his eyebrows pulled together, lips downturned into a grimace.

“We’ll be okay Leorio. We’ll find the others soon enough, especially with these two helping us.” Kurapika attributed the dark feelings from Leorio as concern for the other teammates they brought with them to the Dark Continent.

“Yeah.” Leorio muttered.

Ruby bounced back to the duo. “We’re almost here! Do you guys have forest where you’re from?” Her wide innocent eyes leapt energetically from Leorio to Kurapika.

Kurapika pursued his lips. “I’m going to talk to your sister, okay? Leorio can answer your questions.”

“Okay,” Ruby sang, and waved her arms.

Leorio shot Kurapika a look that read, you owe me. Kurapika nodded seriously and moved his legs to try and catch up with the taller blonde.

When he caught up, he tried to say something, but Kurapika lost his voice.

Yang glanced at him and quirked an eyebrow. “So, Kurapika right? It looks like we can head that way and make camp over there. I didn’t bring enough food for four, so hopefully you guys have your own stuff.” Yang continued on talking about camp arrangements and guard duties as Kurapika only half listened.

Kurapika was trying to keep pace with Yang as she pushed forward. The blonde girl was about an inch taller than Kurapika, and her shoulders were broader. It was obvious that Yang trained for hand-to-hand combat. “Ruby mentioned you guys were sisters?” Kurapika interjected abruptly, cutting off Yang mid-sentence.

Yang took the abrupt change in topic in stride, answering quickly. “Half-sisters. We share a father.”

Kurapika jumped inside, must be Kurta on her mother’s side. “Oh. Do you know your mom?”

Yang burst out into a laughter that was almost contagious in how bubbly it was. When she composed herself, she said, “what a weird question to be asking someone you just met.”

“Sorry.” Kurapika looked away, and decided to drop the conversation.

“She left when I was young.” Yang said softly, still smirking but there was pain behind her eyes.

“Oh.” Kurapika again found himself losing hope. Kurapika looked over his shoulder at Leorio, who was lagging behind with Ruby. He was wearing an odd expression that Kurapika couldn’t quite pin-point. Is was like a cross between anger, desperation and annoyance. It reminded Kurapika of a pouting child after someone had started playing with a toy they wanted to play with. Kurapika smiled delicately.

“How about you?” She shoved his shoulder playfully, bringing Kurapika’s attention back forward while also causing him to lose balance momentarily.

“Huh?” he said, righting his stride quickly.

“You asked me a weirdly personal question so I’m asking you one back.” She smirked and leveled a side glance at Kurapika, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. “Do you know your mom?”

Kurapika paused for a moment before starting. “I-“

Yang laughed. “You don’t have to answer that.”

Kurapika looked at her curiously, although the look came across more as irritation.

“Obviously you have some sort of dark, tortured past or whatever. I’m not going to push that.”

Kurapika didn’t respond, opting to look ahead at their intended camp site.

“I can tell from your face. I can read minds. I see the future.” Yang puffed out her chest and flashed a cocky grin and a wink at Kurapika.

Kurapika felt a small wave of hostile aura emanate from behind him, and dared to threw a glance over his shoulder. Leorio seemed to be sulking, as the small girl was talking a mile a minute at him. He turned back to Yang. “What are you talking about?”

She responded by laughing and shoving his shoulder again.

“Why do you always look like someone is strangling a puppy in front of you?” Ruby was suddenly perching her face on Kurapika shoulder. He stiffened at the girl’s casual contact.

“What?”

“Ruby. You’re so rude.” Yang pried the girl of Kurapika’s shoulder and put her into a hard headlock.

“Ow ow ow! Yaaang. My hair. Kurapika save me!” Ruby reached her arms out attempting to grab hold of Kurapika.

Kurapika felt the lightness of the fight, and couldn’t held a small twinge of sadness overtake him as he recalled memories of him and Pairo play fighting like that. “I’ll be back.” He said harshly, turning to walk back toward Leorio.

“You traitor!” Ruby wailed.

Kurapika threw the girl a sympathetic smile and left the sisters to their playing, going back to Leorio.

“You two seem to get along.” Leorio was staring straight ahead.

There was a soft orange hue to the environment, caused by the sun hanging low in the sky. It was nearly night. “What do you mean?”

“You and Yang. You guys seem to hitting it off.” Leorio kicked hard at a rock on the ground, causing it to go bounding far.

Kurapika thought. Yang was so friendly, she’d probably get along with everyone. “We talked for a whole five minutes.”

“So is she-“

“I don’t know.” Kurapika sighed. “I didn’t get a chance to ask. But her and Ruby don’t share a mother, therefore it could be possible the Kurta blood is from her mother’s side, if she is in fact Kurta.”

Leorio grunted.

“They look like they’re having fun.” Kurpika mused, finding himself smiling despite himself as Ruby was trying to hop up on Yang’s back. The blonde girl was screeching something about not damaging her beautiful hair.

“She’s very pretty.” Leorio said suddenly causing Kurapika to pause in his footsteps.

Kurapika crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. “She’s too young for you Leorio.”

“I-“ Leorio balked, stopping as well, his jaw clenching. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Kurapika asked hotly, scow intensifying.

“Guys look a waterfall!” Ruby came bounding towards the two.

“This will be a good place to camp out for the night, and tomorrow we can figure out a way back to Beacon.” Yang had one of her hands running through her hair smiling widely.

Kurapika offered her a smile of his own. He felt Leorio stiffen beside him, but didn’t put much thought into it. “What do we need to do?”

“I’ll go get us some firewood.” Yang volunteered.

Ruby look at her incredulously. “Alone?”

“I’m hurt you’re not jumping at the chance to accompany me. Why wouldn’t you want to come with me? I’m absolutely stumped.” She fanned herself dramatically as though she were about to cry.

“Ugh.” Ruby threw her arms up.

“Oh come one, I don’t bite. Only bark.” She used her sister’s head as an armrest.

“Kurapika save me. Please! Go with her instead. I have to live with her.” Ruby clasped her hands in front of her, begging her eyes getting a bit glassy.

“I don’t think-“ Leorio started.

“Okay.” Kurapika interrupted Leorio. Ruby looked like she was about to leap forward and hug Kurapika.

“W-what?” Leorio stuttered.

Kurapika moved to stand by Yang. “I’ll go help collect firewood.”

“But you’re not fully healed yet.” Leorio’s eyebrows were pulled together but there was something more than concern.

Kurapika clicked his tongue. “I’m fine Leorio. Besides, it’ll give us a chance to discuss some things.” He tried looking at Leorio, however the taller man was now avoiding his eyes. Kurapika sighed. “Let’s go.”

“Awesome.” Yang pumped her fists towards herself. “Don’t worry, I won’t get you killed.” She slung her arm around Kurapika’s shoulders. He tensed, and tried to shake the arm off. When it proved to be of no use, Kurapika sighed and relaxed. The girl laughed.

“Get off me.” He said darkly, but with an undertone of jest.

Unlike her sister, Yang didn’t feel the need to fill every silence, so for the first few minutes of their venture, the two walked in silence, something Kurapika was incredibly thankful for. He was trying to focus on how best to phrase his questions; he didn’t want Yang to close up or feel the need to lie. If I ask too bluntly and it’s something she’s been hiding it might look like I was seeking her out. Maybe if I could somehow trigger my red eyes and show her that I’m a friend. Kurapika’s concentration was broken by Yang’s snickering. He looked at her questioningly.

“Your face.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It looks like you were incredibly hungry and you just looked in the fridge, and are trying to figure out what edible thing you can make out of a slice of bread, mustard and a jar of olives.”

Kurpaika’s confusion only deepened. “What?”

Yang merely laughed harder, having to pause to catch her breath now.

Kurapika looked away annoyed. “I’m sorry. I’m a little distracted.”

The laughter started to die away. Yang had to use the back of her hand to wipe away tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes. “That’s okay. Ruby may have phrased it rudely, but you always have an expression like something horrible is happening right in front of you.”

Kurapika grimanced. That wasn’t exactly what he was going for but it could be worse. “I just have some questions I want to ask you, but I don’t want to scare you away.”

Yang cocked her head to the side considering for a moment. “Not possible. Ask away!”

The sun was now mostly gone, and the shadows of the moon reflected off the purple in Yang’s eyes. He just had to ask. “What do you know about your red eyes?”

Her eyebrows pulled together, caught off guard by the question. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you know where they come from, is it from your parents? Do you know what a Kurta is?” Kurapika’s heart started to race; he hadn’t realized how worked up he was to find answers.

“A Kurta?” She put a hand on her chin considering. “Nope, never heard of anything like that.”

“Oh.” Kurapika found it hard to keep the disappointment from his voice. “What about my other questions?”

“I don’t know.” She paused. Kurapika noted that the serious look on her seemed horribly out of place, but obviously this girl was a lot more thoughtful than her outward bubbly personality suggested. “I’m looking for my mom. Maybe if I find her I can answer your questions.”

Kurapika nodded. The two started walking again, looking for the firewood. “Is that why you and Ruby are out here?”

“Yes and no. We’re here because of a school thing.” Yang began stacking some fatter sticks in her arms. “Beacon trains us to become Huntresses, and I’m hoping with my Huntress connections I’ll be able to find my mom.”

Kurapika smiled and looked down, collecting his own pieces of wood.

“What?” Yang was smirking down at Kurapika.

Kurapika shook his head “You reminded me a far more chipper version of myself.”

“Oh?” Her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs.

“On my continent I became a Hunter in order to use the connections to find the things I seek.” He said.

“How’s that working out for you?”

At this Kurapika screwed up his features into something between a sneer and a scowl. “Brought me here.”

Yang let the topic drop. The darkness was starting to become overwhelming, Kurapika could barely make out his own shoes anymore. Hopefully Yang knew the way back even in the darkness.

When their paths met up again, both looking read to head back Yang said, “it’s the Grimm.”

“What?”

“That’s how I know you have a dark past.” Her voice was playful, but had a denotative edge. It sounded like she was trying to impress something important upon him. “The creatures we were fighting. They homed in on you like my fists to Grimm skulls.”

“I don’t think I understand”

“Right right. Here, drop those here.” She pointed with her chin to the base of a tree, dropping her own handful. “I’ll show you, I believe there was a small batch of Ursa up here.”

Kurapika dropped his wood next to Yang’s a moved to keep up with her long strides. “Ursa?”

“Small Grimm with claws.” They moved forward.

“Why are we-” Yang pressed a finger to her lips, shushing Kurapika mid sentence.

She pointed around a tree to a small black cub playing with the corpse of some animal. She put her hands out telling Kurapika to stay put behind the tree, and then she stepped out. She took about ten paces, still hiding behind trees. Kurapika tensed, placing his hands on his Bokken, ready to strike when the creature lunged at her.

However, the attack never happened. Yang winked at him, smiling and slowly wandered back to their starting position.

“Now you go.” She whispered.

Gripping his weapons hard, Kurapika only got four paces before the creatures eyes immediately turned to the tree Kurapika was hiding behind and roared. Kurapika peeked around the tree, hoping that maybe it had just spotted some prey in the distance, however he was not that lucky.

Before Kurapika could raise his weapons, the bright flashes of Yang’s gauntlets propelled her towards the running creature. “See what I mean?” She yelled as she passed by, leaving Kurapika confused again. She flipped back aiming her punches at the back of the creature's head firing a few shots. The Ursa was dead with relative ease.

“Why do they behave like this towards me?”

“Come on, we have to move. You may attract more, especially now that we’ve taken one of their own out.” She grabbed Kurapika’s stunned arm and dragged him away towards their pile of firewood.

“What do you mean I may attract more?” Kurapika growled in frustration.

“They are attracted to negative emotions. Some aura thing, I don’t know. You have so much rage inside you that the Grimm all want to eat you, even when you're in a neutral state of mind. I’d hate to imagine how far they would be called from if you got angry.”

The rush of information was overloading Kurapika and he blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Aura thing?”

Yang looked at him like he just asked what colour the sky was. “Yeah, you know aura? Well you have it so you have to know what it is.”

“Do you mean Nen?”

“No, I mean aura,” she replied.

“Yeah, Nen.” He tried to correct.

The two started at each other for a second before Yang burst into loud laughter again. Kurapika felt his mouth crack turn up into a smile, very close to joining in the laughter. He couldn't help but feel lighter with such a positive person around him. She smacked Kurapika on the back, hard. “See you can lighten up a little sometimes.”

“Maybe.” Kurapika sobered. He knew he couldn’t afford to ‘lighten up.’ Not yet. There was still too much at stake.

They collected their logs and started to head back towards camp, or at least Kurapika hoped they were heading towards the camp. Yang seemed confident enough.

“Leorio really cares about you, you know? You can tell right away from the way he looks at you.”

“Yeah, he’s been...” Kurapika trailed off, not really knowing how to finish the sentence. Leorio was a really good friend. He was one of the only people Kurapika truly felt comfortable with. That why he had distanced himself from him in the first place. “He’s been a really good friend.”

“Having people close to you is so important. At Beacon, they put us into teams of four. It really shows you how important it is to keep people close.”

“You’re really intuitive.” Kurapika said softly.

“Huh really? Thanks. That’s never a-Kurta me before.” Yang was doing her best to help a straight face, but her cheek started to twitch. When she noticed that heated glare Kurapika threw at her, she nearly dropped her logs from her shaking laughter. “Man, I am on fire today. Literally!”

Kurapika let out a laugh, remembering her flaming hair from the fight earlier today. It only lasted for a fleeting moment before he covered his mouth with his hand, wood falling to the ground, eyes wide.

Yang looked at him, lopsided grin and eyes wide, revelling in the feelings of making Kurapika actually laugh out. “Okay, that has to warrant a high five right?”

Kurapika dropped his hands and scoffed. “Cheap jokes aren’t worth a high five.”

“Awe that’s mean, Peeks.” Yang pouted leaning forward.

Kurapika grimaced. “Don’t  _ ever _ call me that.”

Yang’s boisterous laughter rung out, as the two made their way back to the campsite, hoping their partners had managed to get their tarps up.


	4. Chapter 4

As the two drew near to the campsite, there was a loud scream that sounded like it came from Leorio echoing between the trees. Kurapika was set to start running, but was halted by the sounds of high pitched laughter that was louder than the scream. Kurapika lips curved up and he murmured, “Leorio,” under his breath.

When they made it into the tent area, Ruby was still snickering quietly, finishing tying together the poles for what would be her and Yang’s shelter. It wasn’t exactly a tent, but it was better than sleeping in the open, which Kurapika and Leorio had been forced to do without the girls.

Leorio was not immediately visible and his angered cursing gave away has location was starting to get amusing. Ruby pointed across the fire pit, and when Kurapika’s eyes followed her guidance, he saw a messy roll of tarps and Leorio’s feet poking out, seemingly struggling to find his way out. Kurapika smiled and stifled a laugh. He regained his composure quickly though and asked, “what on earth are you doing, Leorio?”

The roll that was Leorio stilled at Kurapika’s voice. A second passed before Leorio started struggling again. “Isn’t it obvious? Trying to get this damn thing up for the night.”

“I’m no expert, but I believe that tarp is meant to hang off the rods.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Leorio yelled struggling harder.

Kurapika snarked back at him. “I had my doubts.”

“I’ve been telling him I could help for the last hour!” Ruby chirped, coming up to stand beside Kurapika.

Leorio growled, “I don’t need help, I’ve got it.”

Kurapika rolled his eyes. “Okay then, we’ll just go enjoy the fire Yang is starting up.”

Ruby and Kurapika started shuffling to move towards the fire pit, Ruby actually moved while Kurapika merely lifted his feet in place. Just as Ruby shot him a confused looked, there was a quiet, “Wait,” from the pile of tarps.

“Yes, Leorio?” Kurapika waved his hands at Ruby to indicate that she could leave and enjoy her rest. She complied with a nod and danced to her sister.

“I need help.”

“What?” Kurapika crouched down and started pulling at the ends of the tarp, pretending he hadn’t heard Leorio.

“I NEED HELP.” Leorio moved harshly under, tugging the corner out of Kurapika’s hand.

Kurapika clicked his tongue. “Then stay still.” He began to work expertly at unravelling the tangled mess that Leorio had somehow gotten himself into.

He worked in silence, and Leorio stayed mostly still for the most part. “You’re not usually this silent.” Kurapika mused as he crawled around the ground, pulling on different ropes and pieces to cut Leorio loose.

Leorio shifted uncomfortably. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kurapika smiled, knowing Leorio was unable to see him. “Nothing in particular. Just an observation. I think I’m getting close to unravelling you.”

“How was…” Leorio paused and took a breath. “How was the firewood?”

Kurapika missed the way Leorio’s voice raised in pitch as he spoke. “Fine. She’s never heard of a Kurta before. Nor does she know very much about her ancestry for that matter.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. It’s still interesting. Either this is just another evolution of a gene Kurta possess, so somewhere in her family history there was a Kurta who made their way into the Dark Continent.” Kurapika felt Leorio stiffen. “I wish I knew if her mother possessed the same trait.” Kurapika thought he was getting close, just needing to remove one more string before freeing the doctor. “It would interesting to study how the Kurta gene is passed from only a single Kurta par-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Kurapika was pulled forward by  the string he had just managed to unravel. He threw out his arm, and landed just above Leorio’s shoulder, his body across Leorio’s chest. Kurapika looked upwards to see Leorio staring at him slack jawed, his face red. Kurapika started to feel a heat rise to his cheeks, but he suppressed it fast.

“I-” Leorio stuttered. Kurapika jumped and started trying to right himself.

“I’m sorry, you moved when I wasn’t expecting and-” Kurapika place his other hand on Leorio’s chest in order to push himself up. He felt Leorio’s breathing hitch slightly. He quickly pulled himself to his feet, dusting off his clothing, looking everywhere but Leorio.

“It’s okay.” Leorio’s voice had a rough edge.

“I’m going to start tying this.” Kurapika moved to take the corner that was closest to him, and set to work on setting up the shelter. It took Leorio a couple seconds before he moved to help Kurapika.

The two worked in silence, efficiently getting the tarp up.

Leorio coughed, and scratched the back of his head. “Uh. Thanks.” He continued when Kurapika looked at him curiously. “For helping.”

“I’m going to be sleeping under it too.”

Leorio chuckled. “Yeah.”

Kurapika turned to start heading toward the fire pit, which looks like Yang successfully managed to get started.

“Uh, Kurapika?” Leorio’s voice was hesitant.

“Hm?” Kurapika lingered his gaze on the girls who were laughing, looking so happy it made Kurapika hurt. When his eyes made their way to Leorio, Leorio’s expression was more dejected than his voice suggested. However, with the darkness obscuring his vision, Kurapika assumed he imagined it. “Yes Leorio?”

Leorio shook his head and glared at the ground. “Nothing nevermind.”

“Oh.” Kurapika’s brow furrowed at the lie, but he wouldn’t push Leorio if he didn’t want to share. “I’m going to see what the girls are up to.”

He didn’t wait for Leorio’s response before he moved towards the fire. The girls were now roasting some food on the fire, chatting animatedly. Kurapika took a seat next to Yang, and listened to the girls squabble over the correct facts of the story that Ruby was trying to explain to Kurapika. It took Leorio some time to make his way over to the three of them.

Ruby didn’t last long once the food was finished. She nodded off, and her sister had to force her into her cot. An affair that was equal parts amusing and terrifying as Ruby clawed at her sister demanding that “she was fully awake” and “wanted to talk about the totally cool continent across the ocean.”

Once Yang had put her sister to sleep, she and Kurapika launched into very heated and intense combat-centric discussions. Both fighters had very mobile fighting tactics and were comparing their methods based on weaponry.

About an hour after Ruby had passed out, Leorio grew tired of feeling like a third wheel to the blonde duo. Hopefully he could get them all to go to bed now. He stood and let out a yawn. “I’m going to bed,” he announced.

The two blondes didn’t pause in their conversation, which was currently about the best evasive maneuvers when fighting heavy hitters but wanting to remain in close.

Leorio cleared his throat loudly, pulling their attention. “I said I’m going to bed.”

Kurapika scrunched his eyebrows together. “Oh okay.” He looked at Yang for a second, considering, and then back at Leorio. “I’ll do my best not to wake you when I turn in.”

Leorio gaped, hesitating for a second before muttering a gruff, “yeah.”

“Goodnight Leorio!” Yang smiled at him and cocked her head to the side. “I promise I won’t keep old Kurapika here awake for much longer.”

Kurapika turned to glare at her. “Who are you calling old? I have less than two years on you.”

Yang snickered and leaned in towards Kurapika. “Are you sensitive about your age, Peeks?”

“Don’t call me that.” He replied coldly turning his head away.

Leorio took this as a cue to walk away, as Yang continued to laugh and shoved the boy off the stump in jest.

He knew he had to right to be upset. No right to be feeling like this. He had no right to be jealous that Kurapika found someone that he could hit it off with.

Wandering the inky darkness, Leorio found his mood growing darker than the night. He hoped that sleep would serve to cool his mind a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

The sunlight has never been Leorio’s friend. Especially not in the morning. He was not a morning person. The sunlight was streaming through the thin tent fabric, blinding him. “Go away,” he muttered into his pillow rolling away from the light.

As he turned to face the other side of the tent, he realized that his tent was empty, and the sleeping bag on the other side was undisturbed. Kurapika hadn’t even come to bed last night. Leorio felt his stomach turn at the images his mind was choosing to conjure up. Kurapika and Yang laughing together. Maybe they started to get cold, but wanted to keep talking and huddled together. Maybe they got so close, that just maybe their lips coming together wouldn’t be so strange.

Leorio growled and tossed the pillow across the tent. “This is stupid.”

He started to pull himself out of the tent, not wanting to be alone with his imagination any longer. His chest was already starting to feel tight.

The warmth of the sun made Leorio perk up a little as he unfolded himself from the tent. He stretch and realised a loud yawn, already starting to feel better.

Ruby was over the makeshift fire pit, roasting something on a spit. “Good morning,” she grumbled.  This was the most docile he’d seen the girl so far.

“You’re clearly not a morning person.” Leorio laughed.

Ruby responded with a groan.

“Where are the other two?”

“Yang and Kurapika.” She yawned deeply, intercutting the sentence. “Went sparring or something. Told me to stay here to make sure you didn’t wake up alone.” Her eyes started to droop a little.

He would have chuckled at the girl’s depleted energy, but his mind was too busy fixating on the fact that the other two had gone to seek privacy from the camp.

Sparring? That sounded like something Kurapika would want to do. No need to jump to conclusions, he tried to convince himself. His heart was beating irregularly. “Do you-“ his voice cracked, so he cleared his throat and started again, hoping Ruby didn’t notice in her sleepy haze. “Do you know which way they went?”

“That way.” She pointed vaguely west.

Leorio turned and started mechanically walking in the direction. He managed five steps before his conscience kicked in. “Will you be okay be yourself here?”

“Mm? Yup totally.” It sounded as though she had fallen asleep standing up for a second. “Don’t hurt yourself. Yang trains hard.”

Leorio nodded and trudged forward.

It took a few minutes before Leorio started to hear some shuffling and huffing noises that sounded like Yang and Kurapika.  _ Stop it _ . He yelled at his imagination.  _ They’re sparring. That’s what fighting sounds like. _

The sweet lilt of Kurapika’s laugh snapped Leorio out of his thoughts, and while the laugh was not directed at him, it still made his heart feel lighter.

“Okay now, this. Hwah!” Yang’s voice held the usual cheeriness, punctuated with a grunt. “Is how you. Oof. Okay you’re good.”

Leorio finally made it to the edge of the forested area, poking his head out into a small clearing.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but the sight he was met with was Yang on the grassy ground, arms wrapped in chains with Kurapika standing over her smiling sweetly.

“You were getting too cocky. Easy to read.” Kurapika smile widened before offering his hand to help the girl up.

It was too much for Leorio. Kurapika looked so… light. He liked when Kurapika was happy. It just hurt that it wasn’t with him.

Suddenly, the branch he was leaning on gave a small snap, and the eyes of the Kurapika and Yang were instantly trained on him.

“I- I’m sorry for interrupting.” Leorio turned abruptly and walked away fast. Leorio hoped his voice didn’t sound half as broken as it did in his head.

Leorio walked for a few moments, taking out his anger on every stray leaf, twig and rock that happened to cross his path, kicking at them mercilessly. The sun was in his eyes as he walked, and he cursed himself for choosing to wander in this direction, among the other things he was cursing himself for.

_ Stupid. Should have made a move. Should have done something. Why did I just assume Kurapika would just be there.  _ Leorio ran his fingers through his hair and gritted his teeth.

_ This is better anyway. I don’t even know if he could possibly feel the same way. This way he gets to continue his Kurta line. Of course he wouldn’t want to be with me. Being with mean takes away his ability to pass down his Kurta genes. Obviously he doesn’t want to be the end of his bloodline. _

“Leorio!” Kurapika called roughly, snapping Leorio out of his spiraling thoughts of self-hatred.

Leorio’s steps faltered for a second before he continued walking, not acknowledging the call. The loud pattering of feet only grew closer to him and he tensed his shoulders. Kurapika gripped Leorio’s upper arm and pulled him with enough force to turn him to face the shorter man.

“Hey. Did you hear me? Are you alright?” Kurapika looked at him with honest concern. It only served to irritate Leorio even further. He shook Kurapika’s arm off of him.

Leorio glared at nothing, trusting his hands into his pockets. “Nothing. Leave me alone.”

“I can’t just leave you out here. You could get killed.”

“I can defend myself,” Leorio snapped, louder than he expected, pulling his arm out of Kurapika’s grasp.

The stillness of the forest made the yell sound even louder. Surprise filtered through Kurapika’s face for a second before it hardened again. “I know that. But we are outnumbered here. I don’t think either of us could defend ourselves against a dozen of this Grimm creatures alone.”

Leorio glowered. “Whatever.”

“What is your problem Leorio?” Kurapika’s eyes burned intensely as he searched for a reason for Leorio’s sour mood within his face.

“Nothing,” Leorio grumbled non-committally, hands still shoved in his suit pockets.

Kurapika rolled his eyes. “We don’t have the time to be sulking in some personal crisis. If you have a problem either let it out or let it go.”

Instead of responding, Leorio chose to continue to moving forward, leveling a glare at nothing in particular.

“Leorio!” Kurapika’s eyes flashed red as he started to feel real irritation at Leorio’s caginess. It wasn’t like him to be this avoidant. Kurapika leapt forward, in front of Leorio and placed his hand on Leorio’s chest.

Leorio’s eyes grew wide, his steps halting immediately. His heart began to race at the sudden contact. “Leave me alone. Shouldn’t you be flirting with possibly the last remaining Kurta female in the world?” Leorio spoke with venom.

Kurapika dropped his hand from Leorio’s chest.  “What could that possibly have to do with anything right now?”

Leorio groaned and moved to step around Kurapika, but the blonde moved to keep him from dodging, boring holes into Leorio with his gaze.

“It’s nothing.” He growled and shook his head. “You’ve been smiling so freely.”

Kurapika’s expression soured as he scrunched up his nose in confusion. “What?”

Leorio shuffled, balling his fists up. “You don’t smile like that with me.” He brought a hand to bridge of his nose.

“I’m… sorry?” Kurapika was still confused.

Leorio kicked a rock and spun on his heels. “Forget it. I just need a walk.”

“Why don’t I go for a walk with you?” Kurapika reached out to grab Leorio’s elbow, but dropped it immediately when the older man flinched away.

Leorio tried to glare back at Kurapika but failed miserably as Kurapika stared at him with a confused heat.

“Leorio.” He flailed his hands in exasperation. “This conversation is absurd. What brought this all on? Not only do I have no interest in a romantic relationship with Yang, but that you are actually comparing our relationship to mine and hers is nonsensical.”

Leorio averted his eyes.

“I can’t believe I had to clarify something like that.” The blonde clicked his tongue and crossed his arms.

Leorio didn’t respond, choosing to direct his sullen expression at his shoes.

“Besides what difference does it make if she has some Kurta blood somewhere in her lineage?”

“I thought you might want to,” Leorio groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t know. Continue the Kurta legacy or something like that.”

Kurapika scoffed. “Why would I ever desire to bring more Kurta children into this world to be hunted and terrorized for their eyes?”

Leorio flinched, and snuck a glance at Kurapika. The short blonde was looking at him with a kind of fierce intensity that made Leorio feel naked. He started to flush and looked back down at his shoes.

“Why does it even-” Kurapika paused, eyes narrowing in concentration as the sudden realization finally hits him.

Leorio groaned, and scratched the back of his head. “It’s not important.” A few seconds of silence pass. Kurapika stared at Leorio, calculating, thinking. Leorio’s blush intensified as the stare bore into him, reading his most intimate feelings. Finally growing uncomfortable with the silence, Leorio turned away and started to murmur, voice cracking, “Look, We can just igno-”

“Kiss me.” Kurapika says matter of factly.

Leorio scowled at being interrupted. “Will you ever let me finish my- wait.” His eyes widened as he finally registered what Kurapika said.

“Kiss me.” Kurapika looked up Leorio with a burning passion that made Leorio’s face flood with heat.

Leorio’s slack expression shift as he started to scowl lightly. “This isn’t funny Kura-“

He was cut off by the force of his tie being yanked down so that his face was on the same level as the blonde. Before he could protest the interruption, chapped lips were being pressed against his.

Leorio stared stiffly for a moment before he relaxed into the kiss. Kurapika still had one hand on his tie, the other was snaking its way around Leorio’s waist.

Kurapika pulled back slightly a level a look into Leorio’s eyes. “ I’m sorry, are you sure this is ok-”  Leorio’s lips came crashing back down, this time more urgent in their pace.

Leorio placed his hand on the side of Kurapika’s face. Kurapika gasped against Leorio’s lips at the contact, but quickly lost himself back into the kiss. Leorio traced his fingers down the side of Kurapika’s face, stilling just under his jaw. He could feel the warm pulse of the blonde’s heart beat under palm.

Hesitantly, Leorio poked out his tongue and ran it across Kurapika’s lower lip, causing him to go weak in the knees, before obliging to the silent plea for access. He wished the kiss could last forever. That this moment could last forever.

Kurapika was the one to pull away first, causing Leorio’s eyes to flutter open. “We should get back to the girls.” He said softly against Leorio’s lips.

“Huh?” His voice was gruff and his cheeks were tinged pink.

Leorio felt Kurapika smile. “The girls. They’re going to worry if we don’t get back to them soon.” Kurapika’s voice was low, with a slight rasp to it. It made Leorio’s stomach do flips.

“Um, right. Yes.” Leorio cleared his throat and straightened back up. His hands fiddled with his tie, centering it back under his collar.

A silence settled over the two as they moved back towards their makeshift camp. Leorio kept sneaking glances at the blonde, who looked happily lost in thought.

After a few minutes, Kurapika murmured softly, “I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to realize.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the most intuitive person when it comes to social cues.” Leorio laughed. Kurapika turned to shoot a scowl at him, but it lacked the usual bite behind it, only causing Leorio to laugh harder. “It’s okay. I should have said something, I just thought you’d never...” Leorio trailed off his face heating up.

Kurapika smiled softly, looking away. He felt the slight nudge of Leorio’s arm against his. Kurapika felt a tinge of awkward discomfort as they laced their fingers together. They held hands in comfortable silence back to their small camp.

As the site came into view, Kurapika said, “I do smile around you.”

“Huh?” Leorio raised an eyebrow.

“Before. You said I don’t smile at you like I do with Yang.”

Leorio blushed at the call back to his jealously. “I don’t-“

“But I do. At least, internally. I keep it contained more around you because I needed to keep my emotions in check. To focus on my goals.” Kurapika was looking earnestly at Leorio as he spoke. “Because I knew I had to be around you a great deal.”

He nodded, understanding.

“I,” Kurapika looked down, and Leorio could have sworn he noticed a light blush for a second. “I just thought you needed to know that.”

Leorio gave Kurapika’s hand a squeeze and flashed him a large grin. “Thank you.”

“Hey guys! I think we know where some of your other raiding party might be!” Ruby’s eyes sparkled, as she greeted the pair walking into the camp. She launched into an animated explanation on how she mapped out the areas she knew had large collections of Grimm recently, and where these paths would empty out. “… and then we can head back to Beacon! Everyone there will be so excited to meet people from a different place.”

“Let’s go before you’re friends situation becomes  _ grim _ .” Yang looked that the trio expectantly.

Ruby only buried her face in her hands, shaking her head no. Kurapika groaned and rolled his eyes, as Leorio laughed.

The blonde woman continued to smile. “You’ll grow to love me.”

“I doubt it,” Ruby sang, earning her a shove to the ground from her older sister.

“Kids.” Leorio laughed.

Kurapika looked incredulously at the taller man. “They’re not that much younger than us.”

“True. But we have more experience.” He puffed out his chest, and raised his chin.

Kurapika pondered this thought, and look between the pair of girls. Ruby walking forward, chattering aimlessly about the last time she fought a Beowulf, the big, spiny, bear like Grimm they had encounter down in the caves. Yang hung a little behind her, inspecting the ammunition slots on her gloves, nodding when appropriate to Ruby’s story, adding in her own corrections when necessary.

“Yang! They didn’t need to know that.” The shorter girl hissed harshly when Yang included that minor detail that Ruby needed to be saved by one of their other friends, Weiss, during the encounter.

Leorio smiled, causing Kurapika’s chest to feel warm. He slipped his hand softly into Leorio’s, who jumped in response, turning a couple shades of red.

He knew this feeling wasn’t permanent and soon he would have to return to his dangerous situation back home to complete his ultimate quest. But for right now, he allowed the small oasis of Leorio to bring him some reprieve from the darkness.

For the first time in a long while, Kurapika allowed himself to feel hope.


End file.
